Build Comments: Ah, Thanos. One of Marvels heaviest hitters. The Mad Titan. The one-time (and probably future, considering the way these sequel crossover arcs work) owner of the Infinity Gauntlet, the most powerful item in the universe. A man that can take on the entire Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy or any of the Heralds of Galactus and come out on top.

But then lose to a weirdo like 70’s Adam Warlock.

And Squirrel Girl…

THAT is why I love comics.

Secret Origins: Thanos was born on Saturn's moon Titan, and is the child of Eternals Mentor and Sui-San. Thanos was carried the Deviants gene, and as such shared the physical appearance of the Eternals' cousin race. Although treated fairly, Thanos became mindful of his appearance and isolated himself, only playing with his brother Eros (Starfox). Thanos became fascinated with nihilism and death, and worshipped and eventually fell in love with the physical embodiment of death, Mistress Death. As an adult, Thanos used bionics and mysticism to become the most powerful of the Titans, and is often referred to as the Mad Titan.

The Story so Far: Wishing to impress Mistress Death, Thanos gathered an army of villainous aliens and unleashed a nuclear bombardment of Titan that killed millions of his race. Seeking universal power in the form of the Cosmic Cube, Thanos traveled to Earth. Prior to landing, his vessel destroyed a nearby car as a family witnesses his arrival. Unbeknownst to Thanos, two of the family members in the vehicle survived: the father's spirit is preserved by the Titanian cosmic entity Kronos and is given a new form as Drax the Destroyer while the daughter is found by Thanos' father Mentor and is raised to become the heroine Moondragon.

Thanos eventually located the Cube, and also attracted the attention of Mistress Death. Willing the Cube to make him omnipotent, Thanos then discarded the Cube. He imprisoned Kronos and taunts Kree hero Captain Marvel, who with the aid of superhero team the Avengers and ISAAC (a super-computer based on Titan), is eventually able to defeat Thanos by destroying the Cube.

Thanos later came to the aid of Adam Warlock in a war against the Magus and his religious empire. During this alliance Thanos cultivated a plan to reunite with Mistress Death, and secretly siphoned off the energies of Warlock's Soul Gem, and combined these with the power of the other Infinity Gems to create a weapon capable of destroying a star. Warlock summoned the Avengers and Captain Marvel to stop Thanos and the plan is foiled, but Warlock is killed by Thanos. The Titan regrouped and captured the heroes, who are freed by Spider-Man and the Thing. Thanos is finally stopped by Warlock, whose spirit emerged from the Soul Gem and turned the Titan to stone. Thanos' spirit eventually reappears to accompany a dying Captain Marvel's soul into the realm of Death.

Thanos is eventually resurrected and collects the Infinity Gems once again. He used the gems to create the Infinity Gauntlet, making him nigh-omnipotent, and erased half the living things in the universe to prove his love to Death. This act and several others are soon undone by Adam Warlock. Warlock reveals that Thanos has always allowed himself to be defeated because the Titan secretly knows he is not worthy of ultimate power.

Since then, Thanos has come into conflict with cosmic heroes several times in his attempt to regain the Infinity Gauntlet and other schemes. During the Annihilation War Thanos allied himself with the genocidal villain Annihilus. When the Annihilation Wave destroyed the Kyln, Thanos sends the Fallen to check on the status of the Beyonder, whose mortal form he finds has perished. Before the Fallen can report back to Thanos it encountered Tenebrous and Aegis: two of Galactus' ancient foes. Thanos convinces Tenebrous and Aegis to join the Annihilation Wave in order to get revenge on Galactus, and they subsequently defeat the World Devourer and the Silver Surfer. Annihilus desires the secret of the Power Cosmic and asked Thanos to study Galactus. Once Thanos learns Annihilus' true goal is to use the Power Cosmic to destroy all life and remain the sole survivor, he decided to free Galactus. Drax the Destroyer killed Thanos before he can do so but discovered that Thanos had placed a failsafe device to allow Silver Surfer to free Galactus in the event that Annihilus betrayed him. During a climactic battle with Annihilus, Nova is near death and saw Thanos standing with Mistress Death.

Once again, Thanos was resurrected, this time by the Universal Truth of Church. After this return, he vowed that since he lived again, EVERYTHING would die.

Characterization: Thanos is quite simply one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. He wants nothing more than to destroy all life as an offering to his love, Mistress Death. He is a master strategist and has a boundless, ruthless ambition that allows him to achieve any of his goals, no matter how far reaching.

Friends and Foes: He will form alliances if it suits his need, but generally he only longs to be with Mistress Death. His greatest foe has been Adam Warlock, who has thwarted his plans several times. Drax the Destroyer only lives to kill Thanos and is always looking out for him to fulfill his destiny. In general, though, Thanos see all life as his foe and continually looks for ways to end it.

Clean Up 1/29/14: Several updates to Thanos. I amped him up in several ways since he kicked major arse in Infinity.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Wed Jan 29, 2014 7:52 pm, edited 11 times in total.

Horsenhero wrote:I used to HATE Gladiator, but, recent books like War of Kings and more recently the Thanos Imperative changed that some. I'm gonna miss Richard Rider and Star Lord though...at least until some enterprising writer pops them and Thanos out of the remains of the Cancerverse.

Ah, they'll be back. Hell, I'm predicting Uncle Ben's return in 2012.

An LOL moment from Morrison's JLA run was Metamorpho's funeral where it was pretty much Superman and his ex-wife and Superman makes a remark about the lack of turnout and the pastor basically said it was because "you guys don't usually stay dead anymore, anyway".

Ah Thanos. Say what you want about Jim Starlin, but, the man had epic villain 101 down to an art form. As for the missing Nova Prime, Star Lord and Thanos...the best they could do is exile Thanos to a collapsing universe because Death won't take him anymore (it's the ultimate rejection. LOL). I really like the GoG mini-series' they've had going, but, they're running out of major cosmic players to whack. I mean...Nova-Prime, Phyla Vell, Drax, Star Lord, Adam Warlock. I think right now the Guardians of the Galaxy is down to Rocket Raccoon, Mantis, Gamora, Vance Astro and Moondragon. All good characters, but, a little low on juice, if you know what I mean.

COMPLICATIONS:Arrogance: He can get a bit full of himself sometimes and not take mortal threats seriously enoughEnemy: Ares, The Olympus Group, Amato-MikaboshiGuilt: He great guilt over his madness from a millennia ago and the acts he perpetrated then, such as the death of his family and the raid on ThemiscryaMan out of Time: Being an immortal, he sometimes struggles with the modern world, especially techObsession: Herc likes the ladies a lot and is constantly fighting his urge to prove his manhood again, again and again…Relationships: Amadeus Cho, Wonder WomanResponsibility: To protect humanityRivalry: He has a big rivalry with ThorTemper: He has been known to go into uncontrollable rages if provoked

Comments: I wasn’t real thrilled with Herc back in my early comic days, but he grew on me once I got back into them. Then I decided to pick up The Incredible Hercules. One of the best moves I ever made. I loved that book. He and Amadeus Cho just rocked the house with Greg Pak writing them to start and then other writers picking up from there. They made him into a funny, charming, arrogant, flawed but truly heroic character and not the Thor-lite he had been for years. I am loving him leading the Chaos War and I cannot wait to pick up the trade.

This is Herc in his usual power set up, not the mega-godlike powers he currently has, which we know will not last. And no mace. Don't dig the mace, really, but it did come in handy when he was imitating Thor and it was enchanted to look like Mjolnir (see pic below). That was a funny arc, especially when Herc had messed things up and Thor had to come back to Asgard dressed as Herc to battle him and set everything straight. And don't fret, Amadeus Cho is coming soon.

AND A HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY FROM J-MART!

Clean Up 2/17/11: Herc goes up to PL14 as I continue to move my builds up to DCA style power levels.

Clean Up 11/12/11: Really happy with this Herc update. I got his Bow and his Mace in to where they are not unbalancing or take away from him being a grappler above all else.

Clean Up 10/27/12: Another tweak to Herc, taking him back up to PL14...again...

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Sat Mar 08, 2014 5:37 pm, edited 9 times in total.

Dude, I am all powered out. I'll get back to some heavy hitters later on. I have some PC builds to drop and then I am going to try and round out at least a couple of my Justice League of Avengers teams, some Titans and the JLA Academy. I also really want to do more Dresden/magical Thorpacoverse stuff. And some Full Metal Alchemist stuff. And probably some Transformers since the Littlest Thorpacolypse is all about Transformers: Prime on The Hub. And I may take a run at some G.I. Joe stuff, too. The new series looks pretty good, I caught a little of the sneak peak today. Lee Majors as General Hawk?!?!? How awesome is that!?!?!? Hell, I may have to whip up a Six Million Dollar Man build just out of respect!

Now that the J-Mart staff has put on 5 pounds over the last 2 days, we're ready to start working some of it off and start stocking the shelves again. Here is a WILD AT HEART SPECIAL that's getting added to Aisle 1.

COMPLICATIONS:Addiction: Jeroen is a recovering(?) heroin addictPower Loss: The Doctor has to be able to focus to use his abilities, so when he's….um, high, or distracted or has a loss of confidence, he can lose his magic powers, Responsibility: To be Earth's Shaman and protect it and it's people

Comments: Jeroen Thorndike was the 2nd Doctor shown in the Stormwatch/Authority series and he was an interesting character. He was a heroin addicted software mogul who got given all this epic level power and he was not completely equipped to deal with it, although he became more heroic as time went on. His main thing is Transmutation and I made it really, REALLY powerful so if he wants to turn Batman into a toad…Batman is getting turned into a toad.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.

COMPLICATIONS:Enemy: The General/Anarky II, among others.Relationships: The Batman family, Conner Kent and Cassie Sandsmark.Responsibility: To protect Gotham and live up to Batman’s faith in him.Rivalry: He has strong rivalry with Damian Wayne who is insanely jealous of him and Jason Todd, who also wants to prove that he is/was the better Robin.Secret Identity: He has a secret identity of Tim Drake-Wayne, adopted son of Bruce Wayne.

Build Comments: Tim Drake, another one of my favorite characters. I think he’s gotten marginalized in the New 52, but I feel that way about a lot of the teen characters. I don’t think the writing for any of the teen themed books has been very good, even though the creative teams have had successes in other areas. It’s definitely not that genre itself because the Marvel and Image books featuring teen characters have been pretty good for the most part so I think it’s something with the DCnU.

Secret Origins: Tim Drake is the son of Jack and Janet Drake. When he was a child, he visited the circus with his parents and managed to get a photo with the Graysons before the show. That night, Tim met Dick Grayson before the young acrobat's parents were assassinated.

Tim Drake had followed Batman and Robin's career ever since the murder of the Flying Graysons. One day, he saw the original Robin on television performing a move he had seen Dick Grayson perform at the circus; he quickly made the connection that Dick Grayson was Robin, and after learning that Dick Grayson was the ward of Bruce Wayne, he realized that Bruce Wayne was Batman.

After the death of Jason Todd, Batman grew more violent and reckless. Tim noticed that this wasn't in Batman’s true character, and he sought Dick's help. At this time, Dick had transitioned to being Nightwing. Tim tried to convince Dick to retake the mantle of Robin, saying it was the only way to keep Batman sane. Dick partially agreed to this, but said that he would only help Batman as Nightwing. Tim did not like Dick’s decision, maintaining that Batman needed a Robin. Eventually, he was able to get Alfred to assist in altering the Robin costume so that he could help Batman himself. Alfred and Dick gave Tim their approval as the new Robin, but only so he could keep Batman sane. However, Batman protested that he did not want a new partner, while noting Tim's potential. Eventually, Batman accepted Tim as Robin under one condition: Tim had to endure physical and mental training before he could become Robin so that he would not suffer the same fate as Jason Todd.

The Story so Far: While Tim was training, his parents were kidnapped. Tim continued to focus on his work and foiled the plans of a hacker thief. Meanwhile, Batman went to rescue Tim’s parents. However, Batman arrived too late. They had been poisoned -- his mother killed, and his father in a coma. Batman worried the tragedy might cloud Tim's mind with thoughts of revenge, but he was reassured when Tim saved Batman and Vicki Vale from the Scarecrow. Afterwards, Batman allowed Tim to take on the mantle of the Boy Wonder, and gave him a modernized version of the costume.

Tim was always more similar to Bruce than Dick and Jason were, and as he grew under Batman's tutelage, their commonalities became more pronounced. Tim, as Robin, became a masterful detective and crime fighter; he learned to out-think the many criminals that plagued the streets of Gotham.

As Robin, Tim was a member of Young Justice and leader of the Teen Titans. It was during his tenure teamed with other young heroes that he learned valuable lessons that Bruce could never have taught him, such as the importance of friends. He forged many long-lasting relationships, most notably with Superboy.

After the death of his father, and his best friend Conner Kent during Infinite Crisis, Robin left Gotham City for stint in Bludhaven. It was during this time that Tim, immersed in grief, sought to re-clone his friend and donned a new costume in homage to Conner. Upon his return to Gotham City, Tim was formally adopted by Bruce. He continued to operate as Robin in Gotham City right up until Batman's apparent death in Final Crisis.

After the events of Battle for the Cowl, Tim abandoned the Robin identity -- leaving it to Damian Wayne -- and set out on a global search for his mentor as Red Robin. The choice to don the Red Robin was deliberate as he knew he'd have to cross lines that Robin couldn't. The reputation of Red Robin was already tarnished by the now-forsaken Jason Todd, and thus Tim knew that, should he be caught, he wouldn't be traced back to Dick, Damian or Alfred who were all still fighting Bruce's fight in Gotham.

As Red Robin, Tim became a reluctant ally of Ra's al Ghul, who was also interested in discovering what truly happened to Batman. During a trip to Iraq, Tim discovered definitive proof that Bruce was trapped in the time stream. Soon after, he was visited by a recently revived Conner Kent, who proved to be the only person, outside of the League of Assassins, who had faith in Tim's expedition to find Bruce alive.

Tim, still wearing the cowl of Red Robin, returned to Gotham City to engage Ra's and to stop the assassination of those dear to the Bat-Family. Tim, in a move that Bruce would never have made, calls upon his closest allies to protect various persons targeted by Ra's. With his friends stifling the assassinations, Tim engaged Ra's head-on in battle, who signaled Tim's growth under Batman's shadow by referring to him as "Detective"; a nickname he usually reserved for the World's Greatest.

Tim then moved back to Gotham, set up a base of operations and learned to embrace the identity of Red Robin, realizing that he had brought honor to the name and costume. Upon Bruce's return, Red Robin was operating as leader of the Teen Titans again, and as a member of Batman, Inc..

He still lives in Gotham and has moved out of Wayne Manor into his own apartment as he prepares to start his freshman year at Gotham U in the fall. He does tend to eat a lot meals at the Manor, though, since he has a hard time replicating Alfred’s recipes, despite many attempts.

Characterization: Throughout his life, Tim Drake has gone through a number of events that have altered his personality. Though Tim has always been a serious child, a number of events he had experienced has only intensified his already serious nature. A once balanced child was turned into a dark man. Before becoming Robin, he had built up a good life for himself and good friends with people he could trust, even his father has accepted what he was doing with his life. He was friendly and likeable that he had been able to enjoy life. He cares about innocent people, and would never stand by and watch someone be hurt or killed. He has a strong moral compass.

Friends and Foes: He and Bruce remain very close, as Bruce sees Tim, maybe even above Damian, as the eventual successor as Batman. He is close with pretty much all the members of the Bat Family but he is closest to Dick Grayson. They have a close brotherly bond. Dick was the first person who supported Tim when he wanted to become Robin and helped Tim ease into the role deal with Bruce’s distant manner. Dick treats Tim as a little brother and they make a brilliant crime fighting team.

Tim and Damian share an antagonistic relationship, fighting on a number of occasions. He and Damian continue to be odds a lot, but as favor to both Bruce and Dick, he continues to try and take the high ground. Most of the time…

Tim and Jason had a hatred for each other, but have reached a mutual understanding and respect for each other. He also is close to his Titans teammates, especially Superboy, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash. He has other friends in the teen hero community, including his friend, and sometimes rival for leadership of the Teen Titans, Patriot. Eli actually has a winning record in their sparring matches, which he reminds Tim of every chance he gets.

Tim has developed his own rogues’ gallery over his years as Robin and Red Robin, including The General, Lynx, and even Ra’s al Ghul himself, who also sees him as a potential successor.

Clean Up 4/13/12: Tim gets an update, which turned out to be more considerable than I expected. He jumped 15 points, but I feel a lot better about his build right now.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Fri Feb 07, 2014 8:36 pm, edited 7 times in total.

Comments: Ah, Blockbuster. Proof that anyone can have a good moment. Dude actually broke Thor’s arm. Then he got annihilated by Mjolnir, but still, that was a moment to remember amongst a sea of getting pwned moments in his supervillain career.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Sat May 26, 2012 3:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.

COMPLICATIONS:Enemy: Draconic, Hunter BlackthorneFame: The Nobles are the world's most famous heroes, thanks to his wife Gaia and are always in the public spotlightObsession: His lab work and advancing technologyOut of Touch: Doc spends almost all his time in his lab and hasn't been there for his children or wife nearly enoughPower Loss: Doc has to be able to speak to activate his Gadgets and Jet PackRelationships: Despite his lack of involvement, he does love his children and wife and will protect them at any cost

Comments: One of my current fave series that I am working through is Jay Faerber’s Noble Causes. I had heard about it and seen some of the characters make cameos in Savage Dragon, Invincible and Dynamo 5 so since I got an increase in my comic budget, I started picking up the trades. I have only been through the first couple but I highly recommend it.

The comic is about the Noble Family, a family of world famous superheroes, which in and of itself doesn’t break any new ground. Especially with the powers and tropes of the family: Doc Noble is the patriarch, two-fisted scientist/adventurer type, his wife Gaia is an elemental sorceress, his golden boy son Rusty is super strong and tough, his other handsome playa son Race is a speedster and their daughter, Zephyr, is an aerokinetic. They are joined by Rusty’s wife, Celeste, who is cosmic energy blaster type, Krennick, Race’s best friend who is the reformed half-demon son of their greatest foe, the ruler of the Underworld, Draconis, and their Gaia’s blacksheep son from an affair, the bad boy ice/cold controller Frost. And I can’t forget the catalyst for the events that kick off the first book, Liz Donnelly-Noble, the non-powered book store owner that Race falls in love with and marries in the “wedding of the century” attened by most of the Image universe heroes like any good superhero wedidng. All pretty common comic archetypes.

However, the difference in the book is that Faerber mainly focuses on the internal family issues as opposed to the superheroic aspects showing that they may look united and be unbeatable as a superhero team in the public eye, but at home, they are a superpowered bunch of Kardashians or Kennedy’s. Doc is in his lab all the time and has neglected his wife and children, being closer to his robotic helper Icarus than any of them. Gaia is the queen manipulator and media maven, being more concerned about their public image than their personal happiness or well-being. Rusty gets gravely injured in the first book and Doc has to transplant his brain into a robot body and he becomes bitter and angry and eventually ends up in jail. Rusty’s wife Celeste is so focused on their popularity and image that she dressed down Rusty for stopping to assist some other heroes in stopping a monster which caused them to miss a TV interview. Not to mention the fact that she is having an affair with Frost. Zephyr is a total party girl who sleeps around constantly, even with enemies of the family to get back at her mother and father for forcing her into the public life. Krennick is in love with Zephyr, but she sees him as a brother and he is so obsessed with her that he has a prostitute on call that comes over dressed as Zephyr so that he can “have her”. And even before Frost an Celeste’s affair comes out, he is scorned and shunned by the rest of the Nobles except Gaia for his parentage and attitude. Race seems to be the only one that holds things together until…well, I don’t want to spoil anything, you’ll just have to read it.

Back to the build. Doc is your Reed Richards type of inventor but he can mix it up in a fight if he has to. He has access to a ton of his high tech weaponry simply by saying “Gun” or “Jet Pack”, etc. so I gave him a Flaw and complication for that. It has also been shown that he was close to the late Captain Dynamo and his widow, Maddie Warner, which is no surprise considering that Faerber created them all. He’s great field leader and inventor, but as a parent and husband…not so much.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:19 pm, edited 4 times in total.